


the warmth of snow

by totallyrottentomatoes



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff and Humor, Getaway Weekend, Getting Together, Ice Skating, M/M, Mutual Pining, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:08:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29562357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totallyrottentomatoes/pseuds/totallyrottentomatoes
Summary: Alluka may have tricked Gon and Killua into spending time together for Gon's birthday at a snowy mountain resort, but maybe her intentions weren't all sinister...
Relationships: Gon Freecs/Killua Zoldyck
Comments: 6
Kudos: 70





	the warmth of snow

Killua should have guessed that Gon wouldn’t know how to pack for the cold. 

When Gon showed up to the train station without any gear other than his signature green backpack, Killua should have asked him about it. Instead, he had shrugged and made his way to their seats, not even giving it a second thought. Gon always travelled light. So light, it seemed, that in this case he was doomed to be woefully underprepared for the cold. 

If Alluka had been with them, she would have insisted he bring more along. And if he had suggested that he didn’t need warmer attire, as he surely would have, Alluka would have looked at him the way only teenage girls can look at a person, and Gon would have brought along a jacket at the very least. 

But Alluka was a traitor, abandoning them to stay home with her friends, and so Gon was standing in front of him in shorts. “What do you mean you don’t have any pants?” Killua practically yelled at him. 

Gon cocked his head to the side. “I’m wearing pants.”

Killua looked pointedly down at his shorts. “Those are shorts, Gon. That’s not the same thing. You’re going to freeze.” 

“I didn’t think it would be so cold!” Gon admitted in a whine. 

Killua gave him a look like he sprouted another head. “We came up here specifically for the cold, idiot!” 

It had been Alluka’s idea. He wasn’t sure what possessed her to send them to the coldest part of the country for Gon’s birthday, or why they had agreed to it. He was beginning to think he was all a big joke she had played on them. He should have known when she backed out of coming with them, a mischievous glint in her eyes when she spouted something about her friends from school getting together. 

They sat at the base of the mountain resort and stared at each other, Killua is exasperation and Gon in defiance. The breeze picked up at that moment, ruffling Gon’s green spikes and sending a biting chill down Killua’s spine, even through his heavy coat. The heavy tree coverage around them would help for now, but on top of the mountain they would thin out and leave little solace from the cold. He let out a defeated sigh.

“Come on, we’ll find something of mine you can wear.” Killua turned and started to walk up the stairs. 

“Okay, Killua!” Gon agreed, meaning he was probably freezing already. 

They both practically stumbled into the main office when they reached it, melting in the warmth once they got inside. 

Killua let out a breath and relaxed into the familiar heat. “Okay,” he said after a moment, grabbing his own bag and unzipping it to riffle through it. “Here’s a jacket, and here’s some warmer pants.”

“What about Killua?” Gon asked, taking the clothes and pulling them on.

Killua’s heartrate picked up at the sight of Gon pulling in his tattered hoodie. It was slightly too long for Gon in the arms and it hung past his waist, probably because Killua was a good deal taller than him now. The five years since they had been friends had given Gon muscle mass, and it had given Killua height. Killua thanked his genes as he eyed the way his hoodie sagged just enough to expose Gon’s prominent collar bones. Killua studied the way Gon’s neck arched down into his shoulders, chasing the sight of the freckles he knew were hidden on Gon’s back and shoulders. 

“Killua?” Gon prompted. 

Killua tore his eyes away to look back into Gon’s eyes. “I’ll be fine,” he managed. 

A voice behind them coughed, as if to get their attention, and said, “do you two have a reservation?” 

Killua turned to face the woman, who seemed to be the receptionist. She smiled as he approached the counter and greeted them with a small wave. He nodded at her and pulled out the confirmation paperwork Alluka had given them. 

“One second, lovebirds, let me put this into the system!” 

Killua’s eyes went wide and a strangled sound escaped him. “We aren’t- that’s not- I mean, we aren’t,” Killua choked out, sounding more flustered than angry like he had meant to. Gon sputtered out a laugh behind him, not helping his embarrassment. He could feel the blush from the back his cheeks to the back of his neck to the tips of his ears. 

The receptionist raised an eyebrow. “Gon and Killua for the couple’s suit?” She asked pointedly. 

Killua’s mouth twitched.

“Yes, that’s us!” Gon said brightly, stepping around Killua and up to the counter. “Thanks, miss!”

Gon grabbed Killua’s hand and dragged him along, ungluing his feet from their designated spot on the floor. Gon pressed a second key card into his palm as they went. 

“Let’s go, darling,” Gon teased, making matters worse. Killua’s flush only deepened and he pulled his hand back to his own side. 

“You’re so embarrassing,” he mumbled, hoping Gon wouldn’t call him out. 

He just laughed as they made their way to the room. Killua stared down at his card, marked with hearts and the words ‘love so suite you won’t be able to leave!’. He rolled his eyes down at the cheesy phrase. Couple’s suites were just cheaper, he reasoned. Without needing an extra room for Alluka, it made sense for them to share. It didn’t mean anything other than saving some jenny, and it was nothing they hadn’t done before.

“Let’s put our stuff down and eat a snack, but we shouldn’t take too long,” Gon was saying as they entered the room. “That will give us more time to explore, and-” Gon stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes going wide. 

“What?” Killua asked, gathering his aura around him defensively. He scanned the room and saw a bed, a bathroom, and some other furniture, but nothing out of the ordinary. He looked back at Gon, who was still staring doe-eyed straight forward, out the only window in the room. It was a large window, one that let in so much natural they didn’t need to turn the light on. Outside the window, the trees that had surrounded them earlier gave way to the mountains. The area behind the resort was covered in a heavy layer of snow, and more had started to fall. 

Killua glanced curiously back at Gon. “Gon?” 

“Snow,” he breathed quietly, his voice full of awe. His mouth closed then and formed into a thin line. Killua thought, for a bizarre second, that he looked terribly sad. 

Killua felt a burning need for Gon’s smile to come back. “Do you want to go outside and play in it?” He asked, trying to sound indifferent. 

Gon turned his head and blinked owlishly at Killua. “Play in it?” He asked dumbly. 

“Yeah,” Killua said impatiently. “Like make a snowman or something, you know. Kid stuff or whatever.” 

“A snowman,” Gon repeated back to him, clearly uncomprehending. 

“Yes, Gon-” a realization struck Killua and his sun-kissed friend stared back at him, a question on his face. “Have you ever seen snow?” Killua asked. 

Gon looked back out the window quickly, like it all might have disappeared in the moments his eyes were elsewhere. 

“No.” 

Of course. He had been raised on a tropical island, after all. It snowed on the mountain at Killua’s home every year when he was little, so it never occurred to him that Gon wouldn’t have grown up playing silly games in the snow all winter long. 

He couldn’t help but live in the wonder in Gon’s eyes. 

Killua cleared his throat. “Well, then I guess I’ll have to show you all the things you do in the snow.” Before Gon could protest, Killua was already heading for the door. 

He knew what they would do first, because Alluka had suggested it to him.

“Be sure to go ice skating!” She’d said to him, smiling a little too widely, like she had known all along. Killua thought of more than a few ways to pay her back for ditching them as he waited for Gon to lace up his skates. He kept turning his face upwards to take in the sight and missing loopholes. 

Killua sighed loudly and swatted Gon’s hands away. Gon didn’t protest at all, staying silent as he looked up around them. The small frozen lake was amazing, Killua had to admit. It was nestled in the trees behind the resort, but even on the bank the view of the mountains around them opened up and expanded as far as they could see. 

There were only a few other people around them, a fact Killua was grateful for. Killua wasn’t exactly a pro at ice skating, and obviously Gon wouldn’t know his way around a frozen lake. The last thing they needed was to cause a casualty. 

“There,” he said once he was finished, turning his head back up. Gon was making that face again, and it made Killua’s heart clench in his chest. He hardened his resolve. Gon was not allowed to be sad on his birthday. 

“Ready?” He said, standing up and offering his hand.

“Ready,” Gon replied, smiling up at him. 

Ice skating happened to be as disastrous at Killua worried it would be. For all Gon’s natural athleticism, he was also an oaf on the ice. At first he couldn’t even move without holding on, but Killua didn’t mind. 

“Sorry, Killua!” Gon laughed after he fell again, looking up at Killua with a face flushed from the cold. He reached a hand out, grabbing back onto Killua’s arm, his fingers pulling into the fabric. Killua liked the weight on Gon pressed against his side as he helped him up, but he wouldn’t tell him that. 

“Whatever,” Killua said coarsely, “this just means I’m better than you at ice skating, too.” 

“I’ll get the hang of it and be faster than you in no time!” Gon decided, fumbling his way to feet. 

Gon was right, he did get the hang of it after a couple hours. He refused to leave until he was able to skate along on his own, matching Killua’s movements. Slowly, he had let go of Killua’s hand and turned to smile in triumph. Killua just rolled his eyes and tried not to miss the feeling of Gon’s chilled hand against his own. Of course he had forgotten gloves, too. 

“What next?” Gon asked, catching his breath as he untied his skates. 

Killua considered this. “We could build a snowman,” he said thoughtfully, remembering his suggestion from earlier. 

“You can build things with snow?” Gon asked, reaching down to take some between his hands. He balled his fist experimentally and studied the compacted snow after reopening his palm. 

“Yeah,” Killua confirmed. “People that live where it snows all year can even build houses and stuff out of snow to live in.” 

“Let’s see who can build the biggest snowman, then!” Gon challenged. 

On the inside, Killua smiled devilishly. “What do I get if I win?” He knew good and well that Gon had no clue how to build a proper snowman. 

Gon scrunched his eyebrows in thought. “What do you want?” 

Killua grinned. “You buy us hot chocolate later.” Gon nodded his agreement and set to work shaping the snow. 

It didn’t take long for it to become obvious that Gon had made the first mistake when building the tallest snowman: his base wasn’t big enough. Killua, in all his wisdom, snickered as Gon’s snowman fell over for the fourth time. 

Gon growled in frustration. A girl walking by stopped and gave them a curious look. 

“Do you need help?” She asked Gon, starting to walk over. She didn’t see Killua, but he glared holes into her back anyway. 

“That’s alright,” Gon said cheerfully. “We’re having a competition.” He pointed over at where Killua had been rolling the base of his snowman. 

The girl looked over at Killua then, so he turned and crossed his arms over his chest, continuing to scowl at her. 

“You should build yours like your boyfriend’s, then,” she told Gon. 

Killua could all but feel the steam coming out of his ears. “Listen here,” he started angrily, but Gon put his hands into the air and waved him off. 

“We’re not dating,” he said, his voice dropping strangely. Killua stopped and raised an eyebrow at his tone. “But I’ll take your advice, thanks!” 

The girl nodded and waved goodbye, heading back to the resort. Killua watched her go before turning back to Gon. His friend was already leaning back down, to restart making the base of his snowman, probably, but his face looked pained. 

“Gon?” Killua asked hesitantly. “I can show you how to do it now, if you want.” 

Gon blinked and turned to him, like he had forgotten about Killua’s trick already. His face rearranged quickly into a smile that didn’t manage to reach his eyes. “That’s okay, I got it now.” 

Killua was unconvinced, but he went back to his task anyway. “It won’t matter if you do it right,” he said to Gon, continuing to roll the snow into a bigger ball. “Mine’s already better.” 

An idea came to him. “Here Gon, watch,” he said innocently, reaching down to grab some of the snow in his hands. Gon turned to him, his eyes wide and focused. Killua packed the snow in his hands like Gon had done earlier, into a ball. 

“See, you have to start with it like this.” 

Gon frowned. “I know that much.” 

Killua continued to compact the snow together. Then, once he was satisfied with his perfect snowball, he showed it to Gon. “Like this,” he said. “The next step is really important.” Then Killua drew his arm back in an instant and threw the snowball at Gon, hitting him squarely in the chest. Killua allowed himself to bask in Gon’s wide, surprised face before ducking behind his snowman for cover. 

“Killua!” Gon roared. “What was that?” 

Killua had already formed another snowball, so he leaned out from behind his cover and threw it at Gon again. 

“A snowball fight, obviously!” Killua laughed, ready to throw another. He leaned out but this time Gon was already there, and he plopped the snow in his hands right onto the top of Killua’s head. 

“Gon!” He yelled. “That’s not how it works!” He grabbed Gon and threw his own half-formed snowball down the back of his shirt. Gon gasped in surprise and twisted around to hit Killua with more snow, but lost his footing and tumbled over, right onto Killua and into his snowman. The snow made a squishing noise and it crushed between their weight. For a moment, neither of them moved. 

“You’re dead for that!” Killua growled, flipping them so that Gon was face down in the snow instead of him. Gon let out a loud laugh, despite the situation, as Killua shoved more snow into his face. 

“Now we’re even!” Gon yelled, wiggling around and crushing all of Killua’s hard work to prove his point. Killua pinned his arms and pressed down onto Gon with his full weight. 

“Cut that out!” Killua ordered playfully. 

Gon stopped laughing abruptly, going completely still. “Killua?” 

Killua’s senses took a while to catch up with him. Then he realized the feeling of his hips pressed down against Gon’s, and his brain screeched to a halt. Gon looked up at him, his eyes unreadable, from his pinned position. Killua could feel his face going bright red. 

“Get a room,” a snarky voice called out from the ice rink. Killua whipped his head around and saw a teenage girl giving them a look before skating off. 

“Killua,” Gon said again. Killua wondered if his voice was lower, or if he’d only imagined it. He realized he was still sitting on Gon, so he quickly scrambled to his feet, ducking his head to hide how undoubtably red it would be. 

A thud hit his side. 

“Shameless,” Killua grumbled to himself before grabbing more of his own snow to retaliate. 

Their snowball fight ended in a stalemate, mainly because there was no way to declare a real winner. Despite the fact his fingers were nearly frozen solid, Gon had insisted they rebuild the snowman together. It had been a good idea; with the two of them working together, the snowman ended up so tall that neither of them could reach it’s face to give him a smile without jumping. 

“It’s much better that we made it together,” Gon told him, hands on his hips, smiling proudly at the end result. 

Killua could have told him that normal snowmen didn’t have lopsided, terrifying half smiles, and almost always had arms and buttons, but he bit his tongue. The towering snow monster would have to do. 

In the end, Killua had to all but force Gon back inside and out of the snow. After practically dragging Gon back inside when the sun started to go down, Killua brought them hot chocolate up to their room. Gon shivered again as the snow melted out of his hair and dripped down his back. 

“This is why you have to dry off properly,” Killua scolded, handing him the cup. 

“What is this?” Gon asked, ignoring Killua’s jab. He sniffed the cup and looked back up at Killua. “Is this liquid chocolate?” 

Killua nodded. “It’s what people drink after being out in the cold for a long time. You can drink tea too, but this is better.” 

Gon laughed. “Of course Killua thinks so.” 

Killua rolled his eyes at Gon and took a sip of his drink, watching and Gon did too. 

“Well?” 

Gon’s eyes brightened. “It’s really good!”

“Hot chocolate,” Killua told him. “You’re lucky my snowman got destroyed or you would have owed me.” 

Gon took another drink, still shivering. “What do we do after we drink this?” 

Killua shrugged. “That’s it. That’s a full day of playing in the snow.” 

Gon hummed. “I’m going to curl up in bed and get toasty warm again.” He stated purposefully. “I wish there was a fire, heaters just aren’t the same.”

Killua shot the space heater a pointed look. “No kidding.” He thought about all the missions that had led to nights with him and Gon sitting around a fire, waking up the next day smelling like smoke and ashes. His wishful thinking of glowing embers had less to do with the heat they produced and more to do with the excitement of travelling with Gon. Things had changed a lot since it was just the two of them against the world, but Killua never tired of that feeling. 

True to his word, Gon all but jumped under the covers, burying himself in. 

“Hot blooded islanders,” Killua teased dramatically, crawling in bed next to his friend. 

Gon normally joked or recounted the day before they fell asleep, but he was uncharacteristically quiet, silence settling between the two of them. Killua stared up at the ceiling. He should just drop it and go to sleep, but Gon’s melancholy attitude all day nagged at him. He felt the need to know, so before he could stop himself, he asked into the darkness, “Gon?” 

The other boy gave a questioning hum in response, waiting for Killua’s question. 

“Did you have fun today?” They had travelled together for years, but birthdays and holidays usually passed uneventfully. Making a big fuss like this, even if Alluka had planned it, seemed… well, Killua knew what it seemed like. It seemed like something boyfriends who were more than just boys and friends would do. In his own heart, the distinction had long since blurred into nonexistence. Nothing was normal about his friendship with Gon, anyway. But they nearly always avoided doing things that seemed explicitly romantic when there wasn’t a purpose. 

“Yes,” Gon said, sounding surprised. 

Killua wanted to be able to leave it at that. Instead he scoffed, feigning a mild, humorous tone. “Spare me. You’ve been sad all day.”

Gon turned his head to the side. “No, I haven’t,” he said it like he was trying to decipher what Killua was talking about. “I had a great day.” 

“Gon,” Killua said, gentler this time. “I thought you were going to cry when we were in the snow.” It didn’t make sense for him to press the issue this much. He knew Gon well enough to know that if he wanted to talk about it, he would, and if he didn’t, he wouldn’t. Something about the dark and the dip of the mattress that meant Gon was next to him loosened his tongue. His chest stirred at the thought that Gon wouldn’t enjoy their time together. He told himself that he didn’t know why.

“I love the snow,” Gon said finally. 

“You do?” Killua tried not to sound as relieved as he felt. 

“Yeah. It reminded me of you, actually.” Gon turned to face Killua then, his face only barely visible from the moonlight that came in through the window. Killua supposed that made sense, he was practically made of ice. 

“Because it was cold?” Killua said bitterly, at the same time Gon said, “it was beautiful.”

Killua snapped his mouth shut. 

“Cold?” Gon furrowed his brow in a question. “You’re not cold, Killua.” 

Almost as if trying to prove his point, Killua’s cheeks started to heat up as he processed Gon indirectly calling him beautiful. 

“Besides,” Gon continued, “didn’t you tell me that people build houses in the snow? Even something that should be cold can become something warm.” 

Killua wasn’t sure what to say to that. He had long since gotten used to Gon’s honesty, but his ability to say things that struck right to Killua’s heart could still catch him off guard. 

“I wasn’t sad today,” Gon said again, like he was considering something. “I was happy to do those things with you, Killua! Really, all of this was perfect. It’s just that I… wanted something else.”

“Wanted more,” Killua mirrored knowingly. 

“I know it’s selfish,” Gon whispered with a sheepish laugh. He snapped his fingers into the air like he’d just remembered something. “Yearning! That’s what BIskey calls it in the books she leaves lying around.” 

Killua sat up with a start. He turned his head, slowly, to face Gon, and then he blinked at him. “Huh?”

“Yeah, it means-”

“I know what it means, Gon.” Killua deadpanned. His heart had started to beat erratically in his chest. _I love the snow, Killua, it reminds me of you_. Killua exhaled and lowered himself back down onto the mattress. _Beautiful_ , he’d said. 

“Yearning for what?” Killua asked the ceiling, before letting his head fall to the side to look back at Gon. He was staring back at Killua like he had looked at the snow, with a small sad smile on his lips. There was something haunting about seeing that look on Gon, and Killua decided then and there that if he ever saw it again it would be too soon. 

He pursed his lips. “You’ve never been good at selflessness,” Killua told him. Then, slowly, he reached his hand out to close the distance between them. He let his fingers card gently through Gon’s hair, watching as his eyes widened in response. Suddenly he was twelve again, looking at a boy that felt like the sun itself and wondering how he got so lucky. It had been scary then, to love someone so much. He’d since learned there wasn’t much he couldn’t do with Gon at his side. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. 

“Killua?” Gon marveled softly. 

Killua rolled to his side, putting him close enough to Gon that he could feel their shallow breath mingling. His fingers stayed entangled in Gon’s hair, tugging at the ends playfully. 

“All of this was Alluka’s idea, you know,” Killua said matter-of-factly. Gon just nodded, his eyes still wide. “I could still give you a gift.” The look on Gon’s face was enough for Killua to swallow his embarrassment and more. Gon watched him intensely, hanging on his every word or movement. Killua had never felt more seen in his whole life, and it was Gon, because of course it was Gon. He felt his blood hot in his ears as he stared down at Gon’s lips, opened in an ‘o’ of surprise.

All in a second, Gon closed in the distance between them and pressed their lips together. Killua stiffened in shock as heat flooded his entire body. Gon must have felt his hesitation because he pulled back immediately, his eyes wide in panic. Killua could feel himself lean forward just slightly, unconsciously chasing the brief sensation of Gon kissing him. 

“Oh, sorry, Killua, I-” Killua cut him off by crashing his lips down onto Gon’s again. He’d never kissed anyone before, and he was pretty sure they weren’t doing it right, but it didn’t matter. It only took Gon a split second to melt back into Killua, raising his hands up to rest of the back of Killua’s neck, trapping him in the kiss. Killua opened his mouth to sigh and Gon immediately deepened the kiss, his tongue finding Killua’s. There was nothing urgent or forceful about the way Gon kissed him, but it was intense and all-consuming, just like everything Gon did. Killua’s stomach stirred in response, if it was even possible for him to be more excited. 

Then Gon sucked in a sharp breath and pulled away. Killua’s mind was hazy and he immediately followed Gon’s warmth, pressing insistent kisses on his cheeks and jawbone. 

“Killua calm down,” Gon said, his voice thick. “You shocked me.”

Killua blinked his hooded eyes and leaned backwards to look at Gon. “What?” 

Killua looked down at himself and realized some of his aura had crackled to life, jumping up from his skin to the sheets like visible static electricity. He turned his gaze back to Gon, realization clearing his senses. Then Gon put his hand over his mouth and started to laugh. Killua blushed in embarrassment, which only made Gon laugh harder. But Gon’s laugh was warm and rumbling, and Killua found himself getting lost in the sound of it until he was laughing too. 

“Killua,” Gon said as his breathing evened out, “when we were kids, did you…”

“Yeah,” Killua breathed, knowing exactly what Gon was trying to ask him.

Gon flopped back down onto the bed, a smile on his lips. He took Killua’s hand and intertwined it with his own. “Me too.” 

They stayed that way for a while, laying side by side with their hands together between them, the only sound their breathing and the whirring of the heater. Killua nearly jumped when Gon’s other hand touched the skin on his shoulder, lightly tracing down his collarbone and arm absentmindedly. Gon had always been liberal with his affection, but physical touch with this meaning was something Killua wasn’t used to. Slowly, experimentally, he let his head dip down to the side, finding Gon’s shoulder. He pushed lightly until his head was nestled in the crook there and glanced up at Gon’s side profile. He was smiling softly again, but there was nothing sad in his eyes this time. 

“What do you think Alluka will say? When we come back like this?” Gon whispered, holding their conjoined hands up into the air. 

Killua couldn’t even find it in himself to feel the slightest bit irritated with his sister at that moment, even for her schemes. Not with his lips feeling swollen from Gon’s kisses and Gon smiling at him in the way he reserved just for Killua. Later he would chew her out for tricking them, he promised himself, but for now he let his chest swell with affection. 

“I get the feeling she won’t be surprised.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading <3 <3


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